Did you know that this is National Gerontological week? Here are some ways to celebrate, courtesy of the NGNA. Obtain a proclamation from the mayor of your town proclaiming October 1- 8 as National Gerontological Nurses Week. Develop a calendar of events. Plan to honor your colleagues with a recognition award (certificate or plaque). ...

Are you a CCRC? You may not want to say so, according to a consulting firm that writes: ''We believe that marketing your retirement community as continuing care retirement community may be one of the worst decisions you could ever make. In fact, I would put as much distance between my retirement community and the term ''continuing care ...

 The following is a guest blog from Anthony Cirillo:  Accountable care organizations and medical homes are terms being bantered about with reform. An accountable care organization (ACO) would consist of a group of healthcare entities that share responsibility for the quality and cost of care to a defined population. People I have ...

  With Scott Brown's victory in the Massachusetts Senate special election, health care reform looks dramatically different than it did. Democrats have two options, writes Stephanie Condon on CBS News. House Democrats can pass the Senate bill on the condition that Democrats would make revisions to the legislation through a separate ''fix it'' ...

Health care reform is not possible without health insurance coverage. It comes as no surprise that health insurance decisions are not always made in the best interest of the patient. As Michelle Obama related, in some states it is still legal to deny a woman coverage because she's been the victim of domestic violence. Health care premiums ...

With record unemployment rates, you'd think the health care industry would be closer to filling the workforce shortages that have plagued the industry for years. While a few administrators I talked to told me their staffing levels are stabilizing and they are relying less on agencies, there are still nearly 110,000 caregiving vacancies in ...

In my last post on Sara Gruen's book ''Water for Elephants,'' I discussed the book's main character, 93-year-old Jacob, who lives in a long-term care facility. In the chapter where Jacob recounts his family's decision to send him to the facility, he says the dialogue between him and his children went like this: ''It's not a nursing home, they ...